📸 Some of the Team Members of SaveSouls, Inc. at their 4th Annual ‘Let’s Talk Mental Health Conference’ – June 2024
July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. This month is dedicated to bringing more awareness to the unique challenges that racial and ethnic minorities in the United States face when it comes to mental illness. As mental health care continues to be a growing crisis in America, Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, Asian and other immigrants of color are severely affected. They face many challenges and barriers when it comes to accessing resources and services and unfortunately cultural comprehensive care is not always prioritized. Luckily, there are small local organizations in Massachusetts like SaveSouls, Inc. who recognize this need and is committed to enhancing the mental well-being of Afro-Caribbean individuals navigating various challenges through mental health education, professional mentorship and providing access to resources.
What inspired you to create SaveSouls Inc. and what is your mission?
Savesouls started as two programs in two different states. In 2017, Co-Founder & CEO Obelle Milien Pluviose, hosted a program at her local church to create a safe space for youth to express their emotional challenges. As a pastor’s kid (PK) she experienced the mental health challenges that came along with having to always be a perfect role model for others at her church. As she sat one Saturday and listened to one youth after the other share their stories of silent trauma and emotional burdens, she realized the need to address these issues on a greater level. She contacted the Adventist federation and organized a tri-state conference rallying churches from New York, Florida and Massachusetts on a mental health conference with a total of 13 therapists and mental health experts to address suicide, depression and other mental illness and provide direct resources for the individuals in need.
Simultaneously that same year in New York, Co-Founder & President, Patricia Mura Desert launched a program to promote the healthy social and economic development of young immigrants in her community. She was motivated by the lack of studies on Caribbean mental health and the negative impact of trauma on our socio-economic mobility in the US. She used her graduate capstone to conduct an online community assessment to further understand reasons keeping Caribbean immigrants from utilizing their local resources. As a result, she then started to develop a holistic curriculum to address the intersectional needs of an immigrant newcomer.
After their respective efforts in different states, Patricia and Obelle decided to combine their respective efforts into one impactful community-based organization, SaveSouls,Inc. Since they started this work, SaveSouls has impacted close to 5000 youths and adults through public forums, workshops, trainings and community conferences. As of September 2023, SaveSouls,Inc. has directly served 590 Haitian immigrants and refugees in Massachusetts alone through their holistic workshop and curriculum.
What are some of the unique challenges Afro-Caribbean people face in terms of managing their mental health?
One of the major barriers to mental health services appropriate to Afro-Caribbean individuals is the language barrier. And this is not a matter of proficiency in English, but it is an issue of cultural norms. In Haiti, although mental health services are scarce, our people do engage in different mental health coping strategies that cannot be translated word-to-word in American culture. In Haiti, mental health services providers are not therapists, school counselors or case managers, they are pastors, school teachers, the old aunt in the neighborhood or deacons at the church. When faced with the option of seeing a therapist in the US, some Haitian immigrants need clarification on the similarity of these providers to their pastors. They need to understand that their conversations are strictly confidential, they need to be reassured that they won’t be deported from the country from sharing their traumatic experiences, current or past; they need to see themselves in their providers or at least see the cultural humility in the providers’ willingness to learn their cultural norms.
Also, as a culture, Haitians take pride in natural medicine. We believe in prayers and other spiritual practices that give us hope. When these cultural beliefs are dismissed by mental health providers, it automatically creates a disconnect in the intervention. When SaveSouls, Inc. hosts workshops at the different shelters including local churches, the curriculum including our workbooks are framed in a way to help participants establish these connections and understand their fears. For example, we were at a shelter where participants were hesitant about early intervention services because they were afraid their children would be miseducated, or worse, taken away. They were declining the service because they did not have a space to freely express their concerns without judgment. At our workshops, we establish connections with those supportive services and demystify their fears. That’s why our workshops are highly interactive and non-lecture-like. In spite of the constant political unrest and what you see in the media about Haiti, we are a collectivistic culture; we are story-tellers and we heal as such. That’s why services and interventions must be tailored as such in order to be effective.
How can we support Afro-Caribbean people with the mental health and social services they need to heal and thrive?
We need to build stronger communities that influence their mental well-being. We must engage in continuing education on cultural competence and humility as providers. Services should be easily accessible, with minimal barriers related to language, cost, and location. We need to reach them in places they frequent the most: school, church, and at home. SaveSouls, Inc. grew into a mobile program to host programs in local churches because we understand that dynamic. Educating both the community and service providers about the unique mental health needs of Afro-Caribbean individuals can reduce stigma and improve service delivery. Community-based programs that create safe spaces for open discussion can build trust and encourage participation. We need to train leaders they already trust such as pastors, teachers, youth leaders and similar local leaders in mental health modality.
A few years ago, SaveSouls, Inc. led an effort to certify several leaders serving in different religious capacities in Mental Health First Aid. We need to fund organizations that demonstrate the cultural capacity to serve the population they aim to serve. We need to fund those local programs spearheaded by local religious leaders who’ve already built trust with their community by training them and providing resources that can further support the healing of the Afro-Caribbean community. One does not need to be Caribbean to serve Caribbean individuals, however, the understanding of our cultural norms and practices are crucial to our healing.
How can we support and stay connected with SaveSouls Inc.? Any upcoming events?
We are currently on a tour to serve as many immigrants in shelters as possible, both in Massachusetts and other states. So far, we have served 590 people and are on a mission to serve 100,000 by 2028. If a shelter, or church organization needs our services, they can contact us through this email info@savesoulsinc.org.
SaveSouls, Inc. also provides therapy sponsorships to individuals experiencing barriers to appropriate mental health care. The application is available on our website. We are currently sponsoring some clients but also need more funding to serve many others.
You can help by donating to this mission using the SaveSouls, Inc. donation link. To keep up with our programs and events, visit our website at savesoulsinc.org. Stay connected with us by subscribing to our email list and following us on social media channels for updates on upcoming events and initiatives. Your support and engagement are crucial in helping us reach and positively impact more lives in the Afro-Caribbean community.